Tag Archives: Mar 30

Like most other cities the world over, Los Angeles moved away from the inflexibility of light rail public transportation after the Second World War. An increasing emphasis on car ownership gripped the West, leading to booms in freeway construction, service station openings and closures of all sorts of rail lines, light and heavy. Most of the light rail lines of Los Angeles were replaced by bus routes – often, the lines were purchased by bus companies with the express intention of doing so.

The last of the Red Cars – those operated by the Pacific Electric company – ran on the Los Angeles to Long Beach line until April 9, 1961. The last of the Yellow Cars ran almost two years longer, before the last service on the J, P, R, S and V routes on March 30. All of these were replaced by bus lines on March 31, 1963. It was the end of an era.

By the end of March 1975, the US withdrawal from Vietnam was already well underway – and unsurprisingly, this led to the North Vietnamese forces stepping up attacks on positions still held by the US. Da Nang Airbase came under attack on March 28, 1975 when shelling began. An evacuation was ordered, and while US forces managed to evacuate, many South Vietnamese aircraft were not evacuated (due to the ferocity of the attacks and a shortage of pilots).

By the 30th of March, the airbase had fallen to the attacks. This was a major propaganda victory for North Vietnam, and led to mass desertions among the remaining South Vietnamese forces. South Vietnam itself surrendered on April 30. The airbase has since been repaired and is now known as Da Nang International Airport.